In three experiments we analyze the consequences of the intragroup status of a group’s representative on the counterpart group’s perceptions and choices. First, we argue that a deviant outgroup representative is more informative of the outgroup’s goals than a normative one. Whereas the former triggers inferences of more instrumental than identity goals, the latter does not allow for such a differentiation. We further show that this pattern is due to the differential salience of information concerning the outgroup’s representative. Second, we explore the impact of the selection of a group’s representative on the counterpart group’s selection of its own representative. Based on the observation that negotiators show a strong tendency to reciprocation, we predict and show that group members choose representatives with a symmetrical intragroup status to the other group’s representative.